Debangi Chakraborty

Resident of: Millennium Tower, New Town

“Locked up” would be a more suitable phrase to describe our situation and it has started taking a toll on us. I’m feeling like a princess locked in a tower waiting for the prince to arrive and rescue her.

While the lockdown is dragging all my joys away from us, we can be productive and creative now. Experts are advising us to stay active but this does not mean running around or exercising like a health nut. It means not lazing in bed eating popcorn and watching Netflix. Although it’s a great time to do so. We can do yoga or light exercises to keep fit. It is also a good time to have a reunion with friends on video chat and Google Duo.

I do calligraphy, read and sometimes watch movies. Though my best friend and I are 30km apart, we are connected through email. It’s like just writing letters, only that it reaches in a fraction of seconds.

Reading is something which makes my mind break all doors and reach the corners of the world even though physically we are locked between four concrete walls. Music makes me rewind. Currently I am listening to The heart wants what it wants by Selena Gomez.

The lockdown is a perfect time to exhibit our artistic creations so I’m also creating animations on Adobe Photoshop. It is pretty fun. We also have ample time to sleep. Lockdown does not mean sulking inside four dark walls. It means breaking these walls and finding your way out.

Dilip Syam

Dilip Syam

Resident of: Sanjeeva Town Bunglow Estate, New Town

My greatest accomplishment during the lockdown has been to realise my dream and complete two jobs that had been pending for 15 years, ever since my retirement from the tea industry.

My wife’s biggest complaint about me has been the number of photo albums I have collected over the years (more than 50). Now how does one collate and choose memories of 80 years of one’s life? How do I choose what memories to save and and what to throw away in the trash? Can I actually discard any memories? My memories are my essence but for my wife they are mostly random events occupying space and limiting her ever-growing collection of silver and crystals.

Well, I have now digitised my photos and saved the memories. I am happy that I didn’t have to compromise and my wife is happier as she can now display her treasures. Phew.... relationship saved?

My son loves my stories of the tea gardens capturing my experience of over 40 years there. It includes his growing-up years in the wilderness of nature hearing funny, scary, enchanting tales which beats any Famous Five stories or Laurel & Hardy movies or even The Adventures of Tintin.

He has always wanted me to pen down these stories to share with others. I also had a huge collection of photographs of my international travels and experience of working across the entire Northeast.

I listened to my son and put all of this in an edition of short stories called Lockdown Diaries — Chai Bagaan Adventures from the Bygone eras of 1960s to 2000s. I hope these stories can be passed on to the next generation.

Debanjana Ghatak

Resident of: Labony Estate

I am really happy as after years I am once again enjoying the life of an owl. I am going to sleep at 4am and getting up by nine. At night when my parents are asleep I switch off all the lights and listen to music on my headphone and feel ecstatic.

The institution I’m attached with hasn’t asked me to work from home so besides helping my mom, I am free. I have been writing poems for years but have now taken it up seriously. I have already written 120 poems. I am also honing my reading, listening, photography and watching skills. There are plenty of storybooks on my bookshelf and most on them are unread. I always wanted to read them but made the excuse of not having time. Now I’ve completed The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski and will take up The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer next.

Every morning, I carry my camera to the terrace and click birds, trees, flowers, squirrels and more. Thanks to Netflix and Disney Plus, I am watching new series and movies. Yes, sometimes I have to go to the market for essentials and this is a big challenge for me.

Every morning, I pray to God to keep us safe and give us patience and hope to survive the crisis.

Rangan Datta

Resident of: AA Block

I am spending my lockdown days making Wikipedia entries.

I have been attached with Wikipedia since 2011 doing online and offline work. Two weeks before the lockdown, I was in Mumbai attending a workshop of Wikipedia trainers. I returned on March 4 and before I could digest the huge amount of knowledge gathered, the lockdown began.

So now I’m spending time uploading photos in Wikimedia Commons — www.commons.wikimedia.org. These are photos used in different articles of Wikipedia. I am also categorising them, making it easier for other editors to spot.

As I am a travel writer and blogger, Wikivoyage has always been my favourite and I am editing pages and uploading pictures there extensively.

Tiyasha Biswas

Resident of: Dum Dum Park

Being a 17-year-old who has just finished her Class XII Board exams, I am trying to be productive. Painting is the love of my life but it is something I hardly got time for earlier.

Now I’m painting at least one piece in two days along with my regular study sessions. I am also attending online classes to help me secure admission to good colleges.

I also have more time to spend with my family and I am amazed how good it feels. I tried cooking — something new for me — and made the internet-viral Dalgona Coffee. It’s my favourite now.

I’ve started a YouTube channel to post my painting videos and since I’m into spirituality, I often lie under the sky and watch the stars. They give me hope. I’m doing yoga, meditation, learning Spanish, improving my writing skills and maintaining a journal.